Spring is finally here! Here are your Monthly Home Maintenance Tips for April:

General walk through: Check gutters and downspouts for water back-up. Make sure water properly drains away from foundation. Check for water leaks in basement.

Change/clean air filter in furnace. Check hot water heater for proper ventilation.

Check/add salt to water softener. Check smoke and fire alarms.

Spring yard clean-up: Remove dead grass, plants and shrubbery. Trim tree branches near roof.

Check lawn: Seed or sod where necessary. Apply fertilizer and crabgrass control. Do not use on new grass seed.

Change storms/screens and open combination storms where desired. Check screens for holes and repair where necessary.

Begin garden and exterior planting when the ground temperature permits it.

If you have berry bushes, here’s a tip from Lisa Johnson, Dane Co. UW horticulture educator: “If you didn’t prune your raspberries in fall, you can do so now if the snow is gone. Remove canes that fruited last year on summer-fruiting varieties and “tip back” canes that will fruit this year by 25 percent to encourage more branching and fruiting. Thin out any weak, spindly canes so you have four to six strong and healthy canes remaining per linear foot of row. Overwintered ever-bearing raspberries can either be cut down by half, and you’ll get a light harvest in spring (cut to the ground after they bear and you’ll get another crop from new canes later), or cut to the ground in spring for a fuller later crop.”